Delta joins the party with $200 change fees

Not that it should come as a surprise to anyone, but Delta has joined United Airlines and US Airways in charging $200 for changes on non-refundable domestic US tickets. The change was published on their website today:

It isn’t only customers who are kvetching about the ever increasing focus on ancillary fees. Bob Crandall, former CEO of American Airlines (which hasn’t matched the increase, yet) and generally outspoken commentator on the industry pulled no punches when the topic came up last week at the Executive Travel Summit. Among the choice bits he offered up:

I think the airline industry is making a fundamental mistake when they rely as heavily as they are now on ancillary revenues. The industry cannot have a long future if they are focused on hosing their customers.